The main thing now is that I added some slate in there. But there has been lots of plant growth, too.

Everything in the water with the exception of the yellow frog in the corner is real. I added it as kind of a joke when I nearly stepped on it (it's my son's) but now it is accepted that the water is where it belongs.

The only fish missing are my two loaches waiting for the water to come back down to the regular levels; I just moved over the mollies.

So in there as of now are Slim and Chubby (marble and balloon mollies), Ned and Dusty and Lucky (platies. Ned is actually the only male), 4 molly fry out of Chubby, and 4 nameless ghost shrimp.

When the loaches get moved in, the fry get moved out and the 10 gallon aquarium with the fry will be given away.

Some pictures might be redundant by just a little bit.. but who cares. :) Pictures are fun.

I had been wanting some slate for a while now. But the fish store nearby that sells is wants too much. Man! And they're just rocks!

While I was visiting my mom two weeks ago I went to a local mercantile store and bought a 32 lbs slab of it for under $8. :)

I just took a hammer to it and it produced a plethora of nice pieces.

I went back to PetCo the other day to get more Chameleon plants (Houttuynia cordata) but they must have been in their water for a while. In fact, nearly all of the plants looked like crap.
Of course it's not my only option for plants, but I like their slender stalks and ease (and speed) of growth. "Real" fish stores don't seem to carry this species. <grimace> So if nothing else, I'll do some trimming and replant the clippings. They'll grow that way, too. That's where the three somewhat-distant stalks came from. What I have now, though, has grown so tall I don't really want to stifle it.

I didn't ask about their shoddy looking plants though. Maybe I should have.

I also snagged a ziplock bag of peat moss from my mom's garage. I want to put that in my filter to help the loaches when I move them in, but I just read that it can tint the water. Hmm... I'm not sure if I want to deal with that.
Plus, I have to get up the nerve at WalMart to look for and buy some panty hose. ;)